Join us on a rewarding journey as a Social Worker in Wiltshire, where you'll make a meaningful impact on the lives of vulnerable children and families.
Our Safeguarding Social Workers are pivotal in supporting Wiltshire's vulnerable children, from pre-birth to age 18. Join a service who received an 'Outstanding' rating from Ofsted in September 2023, with positive inspection feedback.
Main duties of the job
We operate on a patch-based model, matching families with your expertise and chosen area within the county. We prioritise flexibility, offering various work locations and hotdesking opportunities to facilitate collaboration with safeguarding teams and services.
We are looking for a registered Social Worker, with up-to-date knowledge of key child care legislation, guidance, and best practices relating to the protection and support of children and young people. Experience in completing assessments, reports, and plans for children identified as vulnerable or in need alongside a full driving licence will be essential.
We promote a culture of continuous learning, encouraging your professional growth and contributions to your peers. Join us in making a tangible difference in the lives of vulnerable children and families within Wiltshire's stunning countryside.
** WE ARE CURRENTLY UNABLE TO ACCEPT APPLICATIONS VIANHS. TO CONTINUE WITH YOUR APPLICATION, PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING LINK TO OURCAREERS SITE **
About us
Wiltshire Council is a friendly, welcoming place to work, with a 'One Council' ethos. Thats why we focus on getting the things that matter to our people right.Explore more benefits here!
Job responsibilities
Specific duties and responsibilities include:
To be the primary worker with case responsibility for children in need, children in need ofprotection and children looked after - depending upon the function of the dedicated team.
To operate within the council policy and keep up to date with social work methods, practicedevelopments, new legislation and procedures, including the Childrens Act 2004.
To be responsible for the day to day interpretation of and implementation of statutory duties anddepartmental policy and procedures in the provision of services to children and young people.
To be allocated work from the team manager or any person delegated to act on their behalf basedon eligibility criteria and to hold case management responsibility for this work.
To complete enquiries and assess, the needs of and risks to vulnerable children and youngpeople in a timely manner giving due consideration to the wishes and views of the child and thechilds family. This will include the completion of S47 enquiries, single assessments and engagingservice users and other relevant persons in the work base, homes or any other appropriate venuee.g. hospital, school etc.
To take appropriate action to assess and minimise any identified concern or risk to children/youngpeople in accordance with the requirements and timescales of assessment frameworks, childprotection procedures and looked after children legislation and procedures.
To draw up and implement, with the child/young person and their family/carers, an appropriateplan to address identified issues and to maximise the participation of service users and carers inthis process ensuring that social work intervention is ongoing only when necessary in peopleslives.
To carry out regular reviews of individual plans, record outcomes and formulate revised planswhich are outcome focused.
To convene meetings e.g. core groups to assist in the implementation and review of plans forvulnerable children.
To write reports for child protection conferences, planning meetings, looked after children reviews,legal meetings and court hearings and attend these as appropriate.
To work collaboratively and effectively with Keyworkers, Senior Keyworkers and LocalPartnership Advisors on achieving shared family goals
To have a creative approach to meeting need and to ensure local provision, wherever possible, inorder to meet identified need within available resources.
To have a clear understanding of and ability to manage within financial constraints in servicedelivery.
To work proactively and in partnership with other agencies to plan and deliver coordinatedservices to children, young people and their families/carers which promotes and focuses onpositive outcomes.
Actively engage and contribute, when necessary, to Local Allocation Group case discussions (orother similarly named mechanisms/panels)
To maintain accurate and effective electronic recording of information and action taken in thecourse of casework.
To understand the need for and contribute to the achievement of team and departmentalperformance targets in order to achieve positive outcomes for children and young people
To maintain confidentiality of information acquired in the course of undertaking duties for thedepartment whilst operating in the fullest cooperation with other agencies to ensure that childrenare appropriately safeguarded.
To contribute to team processes in a positive and appropriate manner, by attending teammeetings and undertaking any necessary and appropriate team duties.
To make an active contribution to the development of service delivery through the sharing ofknowledge, information and skills.
To take responsibility for personal professional development through the utilisation of relevantpractice research/developments, legislation, participative supervision and appraisal processes.
To undertake further training which is consistent with the needs of the individual and the organisation, as agreed with the manager.
To work within an equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory framework. Value diversity withinthe team and in contact with other professionals, children, young people and families.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Degree or equivalent experience/skills.
* ITQ 2 or equivalent skill and ability demonstrating significant experience in IT systems.
* Professional qualification in area of specialism
* Licence / certificate / qualification required for the role
Experience
* Professional social work qualification.
* Social Work England registered
* Evidence of professional and personal development following achievement of professional
* qualification, at least 2 with children and families.
* Have up-to-date knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance in relation to working with, and
* the protection of, children and young people.
* Experience of effective work within the legal time framework, including court proceedings
* Up to date knowledge of key child care legislation, policies and practices central to the
* implementation of a professional social work service on behalf of the council.
* Proven experience to demonstrate the knowledge and ability to put into practice a range of
* theories, models and interventions and to assess impact for the service user.
* Knowledge of assessment processes including the contribution provided by other agencies,
* timescales and their impact on council and Government performance targets and indicators.
* Experience of direct work with children, young people and families
* Knowledge of child development
* Understanding of the needs of vulnerable children, those affected by trauma and children in care
* Experience of working with children in care, their families and foster carers.
* Experience of completing assessments, reports and plans for children identified as vulnerable and
* in need.
* Experience of mentoring colleagues
* Experience of supervising student placements
* Ability to professionally challenge i.e. strategy discussions, case conferences
* Sharing research within team
* Facilitating team training sessions
* Involvement on practice/service developments/quality assurance activity i.e. audit
* Raise professional issues within and external to the service in a positive and proactive manner.
* Identify as part of the leadership of the organisation in dealing with issues raised transparent,
* open and proactive.
* Ability to give objective timely advice.
* Knowledge and evidence of assessment skills, including engaging with users of services, other
* professionals and agencies to achieve a holistic assessment.
* Proven organisational skills, including the ability to prioritise work, manage own time effectively
* Ability to keep accurate electronic records.
* Takes responsibility for own professional development and commitment to evidenced based
* practice.
* Ability to manage competing demands of a caseload.
* Effective communication skills, both verbal and written with colleagues, outside agencies and
* service users.
* Ability to develop and maintain effective professional relationships within and outside the
* department.
* A post qualifying award in Social Work.
* Experience of delivering training
* A Practice lead
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
£47,738 to £50,247 a yearInclusive of 15% market supplement
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